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So last week I picked up a copy of Marcus Katz's 'The Ghost Train,' and I'm working through it. While Marcus actually recommends that you make it a study running up to the ending for Halloween, I'm doing it according to my traditions, and incorporating All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, with the final part ending (for me) on Monday.

Even though this is recommended for over the Samhain period, this exercise can be done at any time of year. All you need is the book (available through Amazon Kindle), and your favorite deck of tarot cards. It uses 'gated' tarot spreads, meaning that each spread must be experienced before moving onto the next one. It's a very well thought out process, and one that allows the querent to gather an in-depth way of experiencing clarity and deeper self-awareness. This particular book links the past to the present, helping the querent to better understand past experiences, in order to use them as a foundation for future awareness. 

The island lies at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. To the Dakota, old in the land, it marked the Center of the World.

That's where we gather for Samhain.

In the river valley, the Sun sets early. By late afternoon, people have already begun to gather at the stone-built fire-hall, and kindled a fire in its central hearth. At sunset we close the doors.

Pagans around the world prepare for the annual festival of Samhain. Polytheist.com considers the role of household gods. And Jewish witches explore their own path in the aftermath of Sukkot. It's Watery Wednesday, our weekly news segment on the witches and Pagans community. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

I was recently interviewed for a Huffington Post article on Samhain, asking how I celebrated this holy time.  Here's what I told the reporter, Laurie Lovecraft, for her article, Samhain: West Coast Style, sharing what a group of people in the West Coast community do during this often misunderstood sacred time.  Perhaps you'll put in the comments below how you practice Samhain.....

At Samhain I check in with myself and see how I feel -- if I 'm feeling celebratory or want to participate within the community I'll attend a public Samhain ritual. But if I'm seeking guidance or feeling like going within, I'll steer toward a more private ritual, alone or with my closest friends.  My mother passed away a year ago and my sister very recently.  No doubt they will be in my thoughts.

Pagans lament some of the "witchy" fashions in vogue in October. Heathens make a strangely secular comeback in Norway. And the problematic aspects of the famous Europa myth are considered. It's Watery Wednesday, our weekly take on news about the Pagan community. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

When the horns of sunset sound, we gather with unlit candles and lamps in the great mound's forecourt. Between its tall stones, the gateway gapes.

Then he is among us, singing. I am here, I am right here among you. He shines, his antlers shine. We light from his torch and gather around him in a great wheel of fire. We sing.

Shadows slip between us and our song. Three? Nine? One by one, they snuff out our lights.

One by one, until only the god's torch still burns. They converge from all directions then, like silent hounds on a stag. He struggles, but they bring him down and kill his light. He falls. He is dead.

Why do we give flowers to the dead?

Well, I think I know.

I used to work with a woman named Annie: tiny, nearing retirement but undiminished.

Croatian, born in the then-Yugoslavia, Annie fell in love with, and married, an American GI. Her family disowned her for it. Annie gave up much for love and America.

Not long after they married, her husband asked when her birthday was. She told him, surprised that he should want to know. In Croatia, no one celebrates birthdays. The day to celebrate is your Name Day, the feast day of the saint that you were named for.

So when, a few days before Samhain, her husband burst through the door with an armful of chrysanthemums and Happy Birthday on his lips, she was both dumbfounded and horrified.